IV.

SERM. and smooth, and that all their days will pass without a cloud. We are not exempt from trials in the common walks of life; but they steal upon us in a more alluring form. If we are not exposed to the assaults of undisguised and real evil, we are liable to the blandishments of specious and apparent good. And it is thought by some to be no inferior fortitude to resist the insidious allurements of prosperous fortune, than the rude attacks of tribulation and calamity. If we are not called with the first Disciples to wrestle with flesh and blood, we have to exercise a continual vigilance in controlling those passions within us which war against the soul'.

Under this description therefore must be understood those Hearers of the word, who though they profess a zeal for Christ and his religion, are not able to resist the manners and fashions of a corrupted world when they deviate from the Christian character, and thus are unhappily brought to surrender themselves to undue compliances; who through fear of giving offence to the worldly mind or of provoking the ridi

IV.

cule of the scorner are diverted or de- SERM. terred from the practice, from the avowal, from the vindication of the faith; or through want of courage to resist the insinuations or the taunts of vicious men are induced in spite of knowledge to follow a multitude to do evil.

When men åre thus disposed to faulter in their Christian course, they are earnestly to be taught, that upon enlisting themselves under the banners of Christ they have engaged in an arduous enterprize, which requires their utmost zeal and courage and perseverance; they are repeatedly to be admonished, that they never shrink from their spiritual warfare here, if they would partake in the triumph of their spiritual Chief hereafter. In support of this resolution it behoves them to attend to that solemn warning which our Saviour gave, Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels. In order to fight the good fight of faith they

IV.

TERM. must take unto themselves the whole armour of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication of the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance. They must be firm in defiance of seducing words and in opposition to bad example. The less they are now exposed to tribulation on account of their faith, surely the less excuseable they are, if they do not firmly avow it and constantly maintain it. If they are not able to attain that pitch of fortitude, which might enable them to contend for the crown of martyrdom, they should however labour for that stability of principle, which amid the ordinary conflicts with the world may keep them upright in the service of the Lord.

To encourage a more vigorous resolution let them regard the example of the Apostles, who animated with the love of Christ and inspired with the hope of his promised recompence, went forth in the power of his might into an adverse world, every where preaching the doctrine of a crucified Saviour, making light of every danger and of every toil, and courageously striving

h Eph. vi. 12.

with all the malice of their enemies.- SERM. Let them regard the example of their IV. blessed Lord, who freely gave himself to sorrow, shame, and death on their account. Can they scruple to partake some sorrow with him, which will finally be turned into joy? Can they ever be ashamed of him when he points the way to glory? Can they grudge to die unto sin and to crucify for him all inordinate affection, when this will lead them to eternal life?

III. By the thorny ground is described another numerous class of Hearers, who punctually resort to the Christian sanctuary, and seem to others, and even to themselves, to pay a strict attention and reverence to the word, yet suffer earthly things to possess their principal regard; who, while they aspire to the inheritance of heaven, are cumbered with the many cares of life, and while they breathe a wish for the freedom of the spiritual state, become entangled with the bondage of the world,

It is seriously to be lamented as too general a truth, that the more men have received of the good things of Providence, the less they are disposed to pay 13 their

SERM. their gratitude in return: they forget IV. the Giver in contemplating the gift. Hence the love of riches is called in scripture, Idolatry; and hence it is the tenour of scriptural exhortation to detach us from the love of riches as from the worship of idols i.

That men may be drawn fromtoo intent an affection for earthly things, it becomes expedient that they view them in comparison with heavenly things. And here indeed they sink in value beyond all estimate or calculation. All the profits and all the losses of this world are of no account when put in competition with the goods and evils of the world to come. If we have all in this life which the most inordinate avarice or ambition could desire, yet both the attainment and the possession are qualified with many cares, they are of doubtful issue, they are of uncertain tenure, and they are very dearly purchased if they contribute in any degree to hinder or to retard our progress to that heavenly land. For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and

1 Col. iii, 5,

lose